Mighty Murphy proves unstoppable in rout of Lansing

After scoring 19 points and leading Basehor-Linwood to a 68-37 victory against Lansing, Murphy spoke to a television crew from Sunflower Broadband Channel 6, which had broadcast the contest as its Game of the Week.

Murphy spoke about his performance and the key Kaw Valley League victory.

He talked about limiting mistakes, the team’s play and his incredible start to the basketball game.

Murphy scored the first 13 points of the game against Lansing by using a combination of jump shots and layups.

Lansing struggled to guard him with a man-to-man defense and switched to a zone.

“We came out with a lot of energy and again came out on fire; we kept the momentum,” he said.

The performance is the kind Basehor-Linwood coaches, players and fans have become accustomed to in less than a year and a half of watching Ryan and twin brother Colin Murphy play football and basketball for the Bobcats.

During football season, the brothers gave opposing defensive coordinators and coaches headaches while figuring out how to guard them.

Now, in basketball season, on any given night either player is capable of dismantling an opposing defense’s game plan.

Coach Mike McBride said it is part of the maturation process for the players who just turned 16 years old. Last year as freshmen, they were happy to contribute on a team that won the Class 4A state championship. They followed the veteran BLHS guards and didn’t feel pressure to lead.

“We really didn’t have to do too much,” Ryan Murphy said.

This year, though, they have become prime-time players, benefitting from playing on a competitive AAU team last summer. They appear to be playing at a different speed this season.

Both entered the season with lofty expectations, but Friday may have been Ryan’s breakout game.

“Last year (Ryan) fit in real well. This year he is starting to make plays,” McBride said. “If they didn’t, they are starting to see that he is a big-time player.”

The win over Lansing avenged last season’s loss to the Lions on court-warming night, which played a role in Basehor-Linwood failing to win a Kaw Valley League championship.

Basehor-Linwood led 24-8 at the end of the first quarter and 46-15 at halftime Friday. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock as BLHS led by more than 30 points for most of it.

Ryan Murphy led the team with 19 points. He was joined in double figures by Colin Murphy who scored 15 points and Jake Hattock who finished with 12 points. The Murphy twins are 6-foot-5 and 6-6 respectively. Hattock is 6-2, and coach Mike McBride said size is a nice luxury to have on the team.

“It is exciting to talk about all the big guys who can handle the ball. We have five guys who can score and we are tough to guard,” McBride said.

Calvin Schneider led Lansing with 17 points.

Basehor-Linwood (4-1) plays Sumner Academy on Jan. 5 in a game that could be a possible substate preview and also pits two ranked Class 4A teams.

Entering Christmas break, McBride said he is looking for his team to play 32 minutes of basketball. That is really the team’s goal for the rest of the regular season.

In a difficult substate the team will have to play 32 minutes of solid basketball. Basehor-Linwood is playing in a substate with St. James Academy, Piper and Eudora.

“We will treat it like a state tournament and hope for the best,” McBride said.